Today, I'm joined by Molly Mielke, Founding Partner at Moth Fund, an early-stage-focused venture capital firm that aims to increase the agency of exceptional individuals using both investment dollars and grants. Her fortes are: storytelling (ex-Stripe/Figma/Notion), early-career talent recruiting, and dot-connecting within the venture ecosystem (former Sequoia Scout). Molly’s goal is to establish a replicable funding model that aligns the economics to incentivize supporting individuals from exploration all the way through to world-shaping company.
Seed to Harvest is a podcast focused on stories & tactics from a diverse array of investors, founders, and creators, hosted by Paige Finn Doherty, a founding partner at Behind Genius Ventures and author of Seed to Harvest, an illustrated children's book for adults.
Connect with Paige 🌱💜
Behind Genius Ventures blog | https://www.behindgeniusventures.com/
Personal Blog | https://paigefinndoherty.com/
Twitter | https://twitter.com/paigefinnn
00:00 Welcome to Seed To Harvest: Molly Mielke
01:13 the idea for Moth Fund
03:57 the beauty of constraints
06:17 overcoming imposter syndrome
11:30 the most compelling trends
14:11 applying for a grant
16:56 finding exceptional individuals
22:00 early stage reflections
24:30 who impacted Molly's ideas?
Show notes:
Molly Mielke | https://twitter.com/mollyfmielke?lang=en
Moth Fund | https://www.mothfund.com/
Sequoia | https://www.sequoiacap.com/
Emergent Ventures | https://www.mercatus.org/emergent-ventures
Tyler Cowen | https://twitter.com/tylercowen
Schmidt Futures | https://www.schmidtfutures.com/
Arc Institute | https://arcinstitute.org/
Speculative Technologies | https://spec.tech/
YC | https://www.ycombinator.com/
Ways of Seeing | https://www.amazon.com/Ways-Seeing-Based-Television-Penguin/dp/0140135154
Brie Wolfson | https://twitter.com/zebriez?lang=en